Just how competitive is the best division in college football? There’s currently a dynasty that stacks up well against all others before it, and predicting the winner each year has still been tough.

I’m here to give my take on the order of finish in the SEC West, but luckily I have a great guide.

All week, a few of our writers have been ranking the division’s teams in a number of areas. Here’s a look at each one before we continue:

Here are the results of the rankings in each of those categories, then an overall SEC West prediction based on those rankings.

Team Offense Defense Coaches X Factors Total
1. Alabama  4  1  1  2  8
2. LSU  3  2  3  3  11
3. Ole Miss  1  5  4  1  11
4. Texas A&M  2  3  2  5  13
5. Arkansas  5  7  5  4  21
6. Auburn  6  4  7  6  23
7. Mississippi State  7  6  6  7  26

The points-based system we used has the Crimson Tide winning for the fourth time in five years. Alabama and Ole Miss are the only two schools that earned No. 1 rankings in our four compartmental rankings.

I took down my own predicted order of finish before tallying these up to compare it to our formula, and it’s pretty much spot on. I gave the edge to LSU for the No. 2 spot over Ole Miss as the two are tied above.

One of the tougher decisions was slotting Texas A&M and Arkansas. Although I went with the Aggies like our formula has, I don’t see the gap being that large between the two, and I think the Razorbacks have a chance to finish higher.

The Tide is predicted to win it behind defense and coaching although we know it needed more than that to win its fourth national title in seven years. Alabama scored 30-plus points in 11 of its 15 games, while putting up 29 in a couple other contests and 27 in another.

This is an incredibly tough division to predict. Last season, each team finished with a winning record and went bowling. Compare that to the East, which didn’t even have the majority of its teams playing past November.

That’s actually the second straight season in which every SEC West school has been bowl eligible after neither division had accomplished that feat at all since the split in 1992.

Even Auburn, the last-place team from 2015, clearly got better as the season went on. The Tigers only trailed Alabama by 6 points entering the fourth quarter of their game. Then, Auburn went on to crush Memphis — ranked as high as No. 15 in the AP Poll and a win over Ole Miss under its belt — 31-10 in the Birmingham Bowl.

As always, each season carries plenty of surprises. The offenses for Alabama (fourth) and LSU (third) have tons of playmakers and could thrive with good QB play.

Meanwhile, the Rebels’ defense (fifth) has the potential to be better with the return of Tony Conner at Huskie, how incoming Oregon State transfer Rommel Mageo performs at middle linebacker, etc.

Texas A&M’s X factors are its crippling area and turnover margin has a lot to do with that. However, the team has a new QB in Trevor Knight and the defense is entering Year 2 under John Chavis.

It’s only mid-May, and there’s still plenty to be determined before the season even gets started.